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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.5.10.pr

Legacy of a Slave and Manumission of the Beneficiary Slave

Passage 5029 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses a case where a slave is general-bequeathed to another slave who is later manumitted, explaining how the legacy and the right of choice are determined between the former master and the freedman depending on whether the master claims or rejects it.

[IDEM libro trigesimo quarto digestorum. ] §33.5.10.prSi Pamphilo seruo Lucii Titii seruus generaliter legatus sit, deinde dominus Pamphili, postquam dies legati cesserit, eum manumississet: si quidem Titius seruum uindicauerit, exstinguitur Pamphili legatum, quia non esset in hereditate qui possit optari.
[THE SAME, Digest, Book XXXIV] If a slave has been bequeathed in general terms to Pamphilus, the slave of Lucius Titius, and then the master of Pamphilus, after the right to the legacy has vested, has manumitted him: if indeed Titius has claimed the slave, the legacy of Pamphilus is extinguished, because there would not be anyone in the inheritance who could be chosen.
si uero Titius legatum a se repudiasset, Pamphilum optare posse legatum constat: licet enim manumissione Pamphili duae personae constituerentur Titii et Pamphili, unius tamen rei legatum inter eas uertitur et Titio uindicante optio exstinguitur, repudiante Pamphilus optare potest.
But if Titius has rejected the legacy, it is established that Pamphilus can choose the legacy; for although by the manumission of Pamphilus two persons are constituted, Titius and Pamphilus, nevertheless a legacy of a single thing is concerned between them, and when Titius claims it, the option is extinguished, but when he rejects it, Pamphilus can choose.

Notes

  1. §33.5.10.prdies legati cesserit — A legal idiom *dies cedere* (the right to the legacy vests / becomes fixed), here in the perfect subjunctive. In contrast, *dies venire* denotes the arrival of the time for demanding the legacy.
  2. §33.5.10.prquia non esset in hereditate qui possit optari — The subjunctive `esset` in the causal clause with `quia` represents the reason as an inherent part of the legal reasoning. The relative clause within it, `qui possit optari`, also uses the subjunctive of characteristic (`possit`).
  3. §33.5.10.prTitio uindicante ... repudiante — Both are ablative absolute constructions. In the latter, `repudiante`, the subject `Titio` is implicitly shared from the preceding phrase, meaning "with Titius rejecting it".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.5.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.5.10.pr

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